My latest book Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Interiors is about the insides of my own and other homes. At the time of doing the photos of "MY HOUSE FOR ALL REASONS" I had little to no garden. And in fact made mention on pg. 81 to learning the meaning of patience through nature. "I have learned the pace of nature, her secret is patience. Knowing one day my roses will grow, shrubs will bloom, and flowers petals will fall on the sun drenched gravel".
Once all the yucky work was completed on my renovation of my house I was given the "all clear" to start planting. Somehow a rose bush thief crossed my path and twice three bushes from the front row were dug up and stolen. It saddened me greatly that these bushes were kidnapped from there new home.
My Lavender did attract many many bees, but actually they were always too preoccupied with the Lavender to bother with ankles.
I was told that lavender was placed to line pathways so the aroma would be swept up amongst the petticoats of ladies.
I am always soo proud when I see people stop and look in wonderment of my organized chaos of my garden. Another great lesson that nature brings us. So long as each root has its place, and is nourished, it will find its place in this world. However chaotically its journey may be.
I always had quite a vision of wanting a lavender and floral path from my back door to my back gate. I had to make for a wonky path as it wasn't a straight line. But wonky is Shabby's sister.
I have learnt to tippy toe in my high heals and keep the gravel out of my sandles. Gravel really settles well under my cowboy boots.
I had recently come home from some travels and had opened my top window before I went out to my back garden. So when the flowers popped through my window I was quite giggly.
Building a barn out back of my house, satisfies my fantasy of living in the countryside.
This is the most manicured part of the yard. But its like a zen moment.
Much needed with all else going on.
My wonky pathway leads me to my back gate.
Not often in life do we get to lay our own path.
It is truly not possible to not smile and have a skip in my step as I walk past this pure beauty on my way out the back gate.
I don't pride myself with having a green thumb.
I had a wonderful landscape gardener, Yanetty Designs in California who listened carefully to my vision and with her knowledge and patience she created the magic.
My job now is to talk to my flowers, smile, stop and smell the roses and be soooo thankful.
Just wanted to share this week.
Will be leaving my lovely garden for London....
To view our stores and products please go to www.rachelashwellshabbychiccouture.com
70 comments:
Wow how beatiful. Lavender and peonies are my favorite! Congrats on your new book and store!
XO
SHS
Hi Rachel, It's so nice to see how your garden has grown, I love all the roses mixed with the lavender. Your home is lovely but what else could one exspect coming from you.Stop my my blog and see me if you would like, lots of roses and romance. Christie Repasy
So incredibly beautiful... love the pool how it is surrounded by grass. I am in the midst of a backyard remodel and must say I am in awe of yours. I too must have patience and wait for my turn to soak up the beauty and aromas one day :) I do hope your week has been just as lovely as your garden is.
Smiles and Blessings,
Sheila
Could almost be England, very beautiful
Dear Rachel,
thank you from the deep of my heart for these wonderful before and after pics. You did a really good job! I see David Austen roses there..aren't they just superlative? They have that right wild look..I am sure you understand what I mean!
Have a good trip to London,
Francesca from Italy
Your gardens are awe inspiring, I love the organized chaos of it all! I would give anything for a signed copy of your new book. Do you sell them anywhere? I would covet it forever! Just in case by chance I could buy one somewhere here is my email:
sarah.arkanoff@yahoo.com
Hey there, I have a question...what is the gravel called. I'm working on a gravel path and have narrowed my choices down to pea gravel (the brown kind) and chapel hill gravel (the very kind/dusty kind)...but this looks like something completely different; do you have the name?
Plus -- I love that frumpy (in a good way) shabby chic white couch; I so want to sit on it. --Amanda
Looks like you are having too much fun planning your garden, good for you!
I wanted to thank you for shopping at my Country Roads space (pink cupboard and transferware platters), I was so happy when Sue told me that Rachel (I didn't need a last name)had taken them home!! Thank you once again and now I've got to go...I have some more bragging to do!! LOL! Have a great tip!
Marcela
Beatiful garden Rachel!
I love all the roses mixed with the lavender!I love it!
Your home is lovely :)
Best regards,
Marce
Ah! How wonderful! The whole post message was much needed this morning. Learning to be patience is the #1 thing on my to do list. Thanks for the amazing pictures and a great lesson. Loving every single thing and being thankful for everything! Love, Vanessa
Oohhh goodness this is all so beautiful & full of life & wonderfully 'English Country Garden' like ~ perfect!
It's terribly exciting that you are coming to London!
love
Alison
x
Congrat's on the new store, makes me proud. You have stood so tall this past year!! Love the lavenders and roses, my front yard kind of looks like that. I think the rain made everything grow this Spring. Have a wonderful trip.
Take care, Sue
Rachel your garden has grown so beautifully, you could not help but to stop and smell the roses.
Hope we eventually have you open a store here in melbourne Australia. It would be fabulous
Alison
Rachel...your thumb is most certainly green! Lovely work...and I hope that the thief who nicked your roses has some bad karma....that's pretty bold and brazen of him or her.
The rose climbing up to the window is pure bliss!
Take care.
aahhh I can smell the lavender from here.. your post was just beautiful..I loved watching your bare paths bloom into magnificent ones....just like life... I think in an older post I wrote I know your your garden will bloom again one day and I am so happy it did!!!!
Stay in touch Rachel. God Bless xoxo Laura (rosey girl)
What a piece of paradise, it must be so lovely to walk amongst the lavender and roses! xx
Beautiful! It looks just like the type of garden I'd like to have one day.
This post is magic on a wet and cold Sydney night. Your gardener and you have made poetry together. I love your new Blog header as well and that 'wonky is Shabby's sister' xx
Hi Rachel,
You have inspired so many with your beautiful style. A friend of mine has made a shabby chic dollhouse that is absolutely breath taking!
Here's the link if you would like to see her pretty little house.
http://libertybiberty.blogspot.com/
Blessings, Kathi
So lovely! Thank you for sharing!!
Rachel, thank you for sharing your gardens with us...they are so inspirational. My hubby and I love to garden in similar style to this. We've been in our cottage for nearly four years and our gardens are coming along but Wow not as much as yours. Of course you do need money to buy all those plants...roses are not cheap...so it takes us a little longer. Our Cecile Brunner has taken off climbing up a trellis. We need to plant more though. What a transformation in both the front and back yards of your home.
everything is so beautiful..I love follow your work..so, smell and talk and be thankful..
Warm regards from a cute island in Brasil.
Letícia
Everything is super beautiful!
Thank you Rachel because you answered a question I've had in my mind since three weeks : I was wondering if lavender would grow well in my garden of Los Angeles, and by seeing your results, I suppose the answer is yes. I am fortunate enough to already have a jasmine tree who grows like crazy and seems very happy. The smell is lovely. So probably lavender would do the same.
I met you at your Santa Monica store while you were signing your last book. You probably don't remember me because there were so many people, but just to give you a clue, I was the French woman with the terrible accent, and you had a lot of courage to try to understand me ! I asked you if you would ready to give me advices for my own store on Eagle Rock Blvd, and you seemed a little embarrassed because probably firstly, you don't have time for that, even if you didn't say so, secondly, you made me feel you were not the kind of person to give advices.
I just wanted to tell you I made studies in Economics and I learnt all the necessary about marketing, budget, accountancy, forecasts and I don't know what else, but I give you the confirmation, as you already understood that lately, nothing is more valuable that a long and efficient experience in our field. We have to go with our guts and own feelings, because the economy changes all the time, especially now, and we have to "surf on the wave". There is no schools to learn that, only experience and having a minimum of common sense.
Though my store is very, very different from yours and though my customers are way less wealthy than yours, I observe how you do things and I learn, from far (Eagle Rock Blvd is a little "far" from Santa Monica).
All this to tell you, thank you, for the lavender question (I am still and alone with my son in the yucky work) and thank you for your History which teaches me so much.
I hope to see you one day passing my door at Cuculapraline Frenchic's but if you don't, I understand how busy it keeps you to go from L.A. to London and back, since I've been doing that during three years between Paris and L.A.
Anyway, congratulations for your garden, a gorgeous piece of heaven !
All my best to you,
Yael
Your home is beautiful!! I love the gardens! Best, Connie
Hi Rachel, I just discovered your blog to find the most wonderful garden - WOW! I love David Austins and my garden is slowly growing. We had nothing planted at all a year ago and it has come a long way. I know what you mean about feeling good when neighbours admire the changes. Cheerio, Sarah
Rachel,
Words cannot describe how incredibly lovely your gardens have filled in! I know exactly what you mean when a garden teaches you patience... Creating, and nuturing my gardens have brought my family and friends quite simply "a smile", and that is priceless! Enjoy, and hope you have a sunny summer. I miss those perfect California days like crazy, as I am now a New York girl!
~ Stephanie Bradley
Oh so beautiful! Makes me want to slow down and take a deep breath and inhale the wonderful scent! I must plant some lavendar of my own!
I love lavender. My mother in law has the most gorgeous plants in her garden, mine is spindly and tragic! You are so right though, bees don't care for anyone when there is lavender to keep them busy.
safe travels.
:o)
Rachel this is gorgeous! My favorite parts was the teeny tiny rather than the large, and watching them spread out so sweetly! ;) Also, the unexpected roses climbing up to the window! Gorgeous! And I love the chandelier on the floor in front of the sofa! It tells a remarkable story of value and the heart spaces.. ;) blessings to you... xx Jenn
Hola Rachel, you really did a very beautiful garden!!! Congratulations!
Greetings from Chile,
Maria Cecilia
I got your book from the library and was just reading it this afternoon. It's wonderful to see your beautiful garden now.
Your book has been a great inspiration to me!
Mercedes
What an incredible garden transformation, Rachel. Just beautiful. Have a good trip. Husband just got back from a business trip to England - loved Cambridge. Btw, loved your spread in British Country Living. Were some of those photos taken inside this house?
Gorgeous garden and happy travels.
Rachel, you garden is SO inspiring!!! We have a patch of dirt that desperately needs transforming, and I think seeing how wonderfully and quickly your garden has grown has given me the push I need lol!! Thank you so much for sharing!
I just found your blog...I am speechless. I LOVE IT! Look forward to following. Michelle
Good Job young Lady.
Jerry
WWW.beaumontpottery.com
Congratulations on finally having a soul soothing rose garden!
I moved and had to start from scratch last fall, and I can tell you the excitement is both balm for the spirit and thrilling for the heart!
Congrats on the London opening, I'm sure it'll be appreciated.
xoxox
Tootles,
Sandy
Rachel - Hi - I'm new to your blog, but not new to your feminine design style for everyday families...but wow! your garden!!
I have a small Potager in the midwest, but would love to link this post on an upcoming one I am doing about a rose garden and lavender...let me know if that would be okay...
xo
Anne Marie
ooh looks like Johnsons Blue geraniums in the last photo, by the back gate, one of my favorites.
I have always admired your balance with family and fun. A very hard task to accomplish.
Glad to see you are moving right along,you are proving to be an inspiration to many.
L.
Hi Rachel, the pics of your garden were pure eye candy! I love it and is definately my style. I really appreciated the before pics too, just goes to show what good design and imagination can do! There's nothing like strolling through a pretty garden to sooth the soul... take care, Maryann (mariondee-designs)
Thank you for sharing your beautiful garden. I bought your book The world of Shabby Chic.. it sits on my ottoman in the sitting room always and I never tire looking at it. I live in a town house I absolutely love and I tell my new daughter-in-law that shabby chic is what my house will be by the time I am ready to hand it on.
This is simply stunning and so innovative.love the pillows too, very romantic indeed! Thanks for the inspiration!
Mmmmm a lavendar pathway...what a welcoming site! Also love the backyard...flowers make me happy.
Sylvia
Your garden paths are so beautiful. How exciting to see what 2 years can bring.
I will be traveling to London in June. It will be my first visit and I was wondering, since I love all things Shabby Chic where I might go find them. I do hope you will respond.
Sincerely
Becky
I bought a new home a year ago - it has taken a year to get the bare backyard started. This time, no "new" plants...I shabby chic'ed plants! Lowes carries a 50% & 75% off rack of flowers, plants, trees and shrubs. I have rescued some wonderful flowers (daisy's - they make me smile), trees and shrubs andhave brought them back to life. We are a wasteful society at times, it's nice to rescue "nature" and allow it to bring pleasure once again...it's time to mell the roses.
I just treated myself to your new book, having been covetting it for ages now. It is just beautiful. I spent the whole weekend inside by the fire with cats, just reading and taking in every tiny detail. And I'll do it all again. My favourite page is the prom dresses. But they are all a close second! Just beautiful. Your garden is looking fantastic. I think these gardens are at their best when they are in their infancy, before things get a bit overgrown and require remodelling!!Thank you for a lovely wekend and for continuing to inspire.
Jacqui
New Zealand
Oh my sweetness thank you for this oh so inspiring post... wish i had a ticket to London...sigh. Anyway, i am going to stop to smell the roses and enjoy this silly life, wonkiness and all.
hugs,
Olivia
PLEASE OPEN A SHABBY CHIC SHOP IN AUSTRALIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have 4 of your books and can I say the style shabby chic IS AUSTRALIA!! We are known for our relaxed but chic edge here in Australia. Will your products be available online for Australians in the future?
I live in a small country town on the coast and I can tell you a Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Shop would go really well here as we get tonnes of tourists from Sydney and Canberra throughout the year.
Please please please I beg of you open a shop here soon!!
Thank you kindly - Leah Passwell
How can I purchase a slip cover for my lounge from you? I have searched everywhere for the right slip cover in the shabby chic style that I love but cannot find any store or anyone that makes them. I live in Australia so we do not have your stores or access to them here. Thank you for your help.
Wonderful pics and wonderful post !
I would love to send you pics of my garden, flowers are just a part of heaven !
I would love to buy online as well, I live so far away from your stores !
Have a lovely summer time Rachel !
Such a pretty garden! I too have a shabby/wild front garden. When my neighbor told me she saw a women pull a small plant from my hilly front garden I was flattered. She just wanted a bit of the beauty I had planted. Happy to share. Thanks for sharing your vision. Best of luck with your new furniture venture! Best, Tina
Your gardens are amazing and I love that you showed us before and after pictures!
What an inspiration! The lavender is absolutely beautiful following your pathway! It looks like a dream.
OH MY GOSH, just beautiful, I could seriously enjoy being there.
Congratulations on your great come back. Adore all your talents.
Ginger
beautiful...and Lavender doesn't mind too much if you just ignor it and don't water much...that's always a plus!
so beautiful, love the worn shabby colors....
I just love Shabby Chic! It is so beautiful and dreamy. I heard about the giveaway and put a button on my blog to promote it.
New follower :)
I love how you mix the rustic with the posh...keeping it real! I am 42 and just discovering my love for fine china(I've collected it since I was 8)this is the year to bring it out and set my rough pine harvest table! Thanks for the inspiration!
Natalie
I have lavender planted right outside my front door and when we walk out, our ankles brush against it and out comes the wonderful scent! On breezy days, it wafts through my front door. Heaven...
Your blog is both inspiring and sweet, and your home looks so comfy and relaxed.
Julie
this was really fun to see your garden come alive. I have lavendar spilling over part of my front walkway as well, and it is just heavenly. I love seeing what your garden looked like just two years ago. It gives me hope that mine can be beautiful someday too. Our backyard is part of what seems an endless renovation and I'd like to think that one day it will look even half as magical as yours.
I love your style!! Thank´s for your inspiration!!!
Maria
the new store looks sooooooooooo beautiful. wishing you all the best.
Love your way of decorating and seeing old things.
//Sofia
Your blog is beautifully done. Feel free to come and visit mine too.
Lavender and peonies are my favorite! Congrats on your new book and store!
Banner Advertising Network India
Wow the garden has come on fantastic i just 2 years love the bard I'm just starting the building prosses in Australia QLD carnt wait to get the foundations down & start looking for a work shed for myself, not as big as your barn though but as smaller vertion of yours would be a dream :)
You make my heart sing Rachel as you do it all whether inside or out so beautifully! Thank YOU!
You simply link to one site and discount links of london that site in turn links to another site. charms bracelets That third site then links to you and completes a perfect web charms links of london that is untraceable by anything Google can do.This can build your links of london sweetie watches Serps immensely and give you a major edge over all your competition. links of london ring uk You would be surprised just how fast Google can move links of london silver necklace you up in rankings.Now is the time to stop wasting your time on useless link building that does nothing links of london silver earrings and start using a system that is prove to work..
Post a Comment